Oil-Cooling Tube

ABSTRACT

An oil-cooling tube comprises a set of aluminum-alloy hollow inner and outer tubes with a heat sink having multiple heat-dissipating pores disposed thereon laminated there-between. Via tube-expanding process, the inner tube is integrally bonded with the outer tube and the heat sink to form a lighter-weight oil cooling tube. Aluminum-alloy screw seats can have welding-joint portions respectively brazed to bores drilled at upper end sections of the outer tube to communicate hollow coupling ends with the bores, forming a set of oil-inlet and oil-outlet vents to which a set of oil-inlet and oil-outlet ducts are fluidly connected. The end caps, having ringed sections to be brazed to the conjoining end edges of the inner and outer tubes, can seal and enclose the inner and outer tubes to form an oil-reflux circuit therein, completing the oil-cooling tube with heat-dissipating capability to reduce the processing steps and the cost of material thereby.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

The present invention relates to an oil-cooling tube wherein a set of inner and outer tubes, a heat sink having multiple heat-dissipating pores thereon, and multiple screw seats and end caps are utilized and molded of aluminum alloy to form a lighter-weight oil cooling tube that can completely cool and dissipate the heat of high-temperature engine oil inside a transmission, boosting the heat-dissipating efficiency and ensuring the output of engine power so as to prolong the lifespan of the transmission and reduce the cost of maintenance thereby.

Conventional cylindrical oil-cooling tube 10 as shown in FIGS. 1, 2 include the following manufacturing steps. First, two red copper tubes of different diameter are applied with one cut and punched into an outer tube 11 and the other cut and expanded at the end section into an inner tube 12, between which a heat sink 13 molded of brass roll material is closely bonded thereto. The outer tube 11 has a set of bores 111 drilled at both upper end sections thereon. And the assembled inner and outer tubes 11, 12 are closely sealed up at the conjoining ends via argon-welding process. Then, brass rods are lathed into two screw seats 14 that are respectively coated with welding aid and, via silver-welding process, welding-joined to the bores 111 disposed at the upper end sections of the outer tube 11 so as to fixedly attach to the outer tube 11 thereon. And, via the tube-expanding process thereof, the inner and outer tubes 11, 12 can be bonded tight and close to the heat sink 13. Finally, the assembled oil cooler 10 goes through the steps of acid-rinsing, leaking test, and drying process to finish the product thereof. Thus, the conventional oil-cooling tube 10 takes a long sequence of manufacturing process, which is quite troublesome in operation. In addition, the oil-cooling tube 10 is molded of copper tubes, brass roll material, and brass rods, which not only cumbersomely increases its weight but also boosts the cost of material thereof. And, in assembly, the heat sink 13 is bonded tight and close to the inner and outer tubes 11, 12, which tends to make poor heat-dissipating capability and, thus, fail to sufficiently cool down the temperature of engine oil. As a result, the engine oil has to be replaced regularly after a certain period of time. Otherwise, the deteriorated oil can cause the malfunction of engine and even the damage to transmission, which inevitably increases the cost of maintenance thereby.

SUMMARY OF THE PRESENT INVENTION

It is, therefore, the primary purpose of the present invention to provide an oil-cooling tube wherein aluminum-alloy inner and outer tubes and a heat sink are bonded together via tube-expanding process of the inner tube, and two screw seats and two end caps, each molded of aluminum alloy, are respectively brazing-joined via the process of inert-gas brazing stove to two bores drilled at the upper end sections of the outer tube, and to the outer conjoining ends of the inner and outer tubes thereon, permitting the oil-cooling tube to be molded into one unit before going through the leaking test to finish the product without any flaws; whereby the manufacturing process thereof is relatively shortened and reduced in the cost of material thereof.

It is, therefore, the second purpose of the present invention to provide an oil-cooling tube wherein the heat sink is molded of aluminum-alloy roll material, and, when high-temperature engine oil is transported from an oil-inlet duct to pass through an oil-inlet vent of the oil-cooling tube and flow slowly in the space of an oil-reflux circuit formed therein, the heat sink having multiple heat-dissipating pores arranged at the surface thereon can provide appropriate flow-disturbing effect and proceed with the dissipation of heat before the gradually cooled-off engine oil flows outwards via an oil-outlet vent and returns to the transmission via the transport of an oil-outlet duct, ensuring the normal operating temperature of the engine oil and the cool-off effect thereby, efficiently facilitating the dissipation of heat and simplifying the oil-cooling process to achieve the benefit of practicability thereby.

It is, therefore, the third purpose of the present invention to provide an oil-cooling tube wherein the inner and outer tubes, and the heat sink are respectively made of aluminum-alloy tubes and aluminum-alloy roll material, and are molded into a lighter-weight oil-cooling tube; whereby the heat sink and the inner and outer tubes are bonded via brazing process to provide better heat dissipation and conduction benefits so that the engine oil inside the transmission can achieve the best cooling-off and heat-dissipating effect to avoid the overheating and deterioration of the engine oil thereby, ensuring the precise output of engine power and prolonging the lifespan of the transmission and the engine so as to save the cost of maintenance thereby.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is a diagram showing the manufacturing flowchart of a conventional oil-cooling tube.

FIG. 2 is an assembled cross sectional view of the conventional oil-cooling tube.

FIG. 3 is a diagram showing the manufacturing flowchart of the present invention.

FIG. 4 is an exploded perspective view of the present invention.

FIG. 5 is an assembled perspective view of the present invention.

FIG. 6 is an assembled cross sectional view of the present invention.

FIG. 7 is a cross sectional view of the present invention in application.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

Please refer to FIG. 3 showing a manufacturing flowchart of the present invention (accompanied by FIGS. 4 to 6 inclusive). The present invention relates to an oil-cooling tube 20, comprising a set of cylindrical hollow inner and outer tubes 21, 22, and a heat-sink 23 bonded between the inner and the outer tubes 21, 22 thereof. The inner and outer tubes 21, 22 are respectively made of an aluminum-alloy tube cut and punched into shape. The outer tube 22 has a set of bores 221 symmetrically drilled at the upper end sections thereon. The heat sink 23, made of aluminum-alloy roll material, is equipped with multiple heat-dissipating pores 231 and molded into a spiral-type surface so as to boost the capability of heat dissipation thereby. Two screw seats 24 are provided fitting to the two bores 221 disposed at the upper end sections of the outer tube 22. The screw seats 24 are respectively made of an aluminum-alloy rod lathed into an inverted T-shaped configuration. The screw seat 24 has a depressed welding-joint portion 241 defining the bottom surface thereon, and an external-threaded hollow coupling end 242 extending at the other side thereon. In addition, an end cap 25 having a ringed section 251 extending thereon is provided fitting to both conjoining ends of the inner and outer tubes 21, 22 respectively. The end cap 25, made of aluminum-alloy roll material, is punched into a hollow U-shaped configuration, permitting the ringed section 251 of the end cap 25 to precisely bond and seal to the conjoining sections disposed at both outer end edges of the inner and outer tubes 21, 22 respectively. The manufacturing process includes steps as follows:

First, via tube-expanding process of the inner tube 21, the inner and outer tubes 21, 22 molded of aluminum-alloy tubes and the heat sink 23 molded of aluminum-alloy roll material are bonded into one unit, to which the two screw seats made of aluminum-alloy rods and the end caps 25 made of aluminum-alloy roll material are attached thereto. Then, the welding-joint portions 241 of the two screw seats 24 and the ringed sections 251 of the two end caps 25 respectively have the bottom surfaces and the inner surfaces thereof coated with welding aid. Via the process of inert-gas brazing stove, the welding-joint portions 241 of the screw seats 24 are respectively brazed onto the bores 221 of the outer tubes 22, and the ringed sections 251 of the end caps 25 brazed onto the conjoining sections disposed at both outer end edges of the inner and outer tubes 21, 22 thereby. Thus, the hollow coupling ends 242 of the screw seats 24 and the bores 221 of the outer tube 22 are fluidly connected to each other, forming an oil-inlet vent and an oil-outlet vent to which an oil-inlet duct 30 and an oil-outlet duct 30′ are respectively connected. And the conjoining end edges of the inner and outer tubes 21, 22 are sealed and enclosed to form the space of an oil-reflux circuit therein. Then, leaking test is applied to ensure the finished product without any flaws, completing the manufacturing of the oil-cooling tube 20 with the capability of heat dissipation. Thus, the oil-cooling tube 20 reduced in the processing steps can not only cut down the cost of materials, but also save the expense spent in maintenance and effectively prevent the deterioration of engine oil so as to ensure the output of engine power and make the transmission and the engine more durable thereby.

Please refer to FIG. 7 showing a cross sectional view of the present invention in application. When the oil cooling tube 20 is installed to a water tank A of an automobile. The oil-inlet duct 30 and the oil-outlet duct 30′ are respectively connected to the coupling ends 242 thereof, permitting high-temperature engine oil contained inside the transmission to be transported via the oil-inlet duct 30 to pass through the oil-inlet vent formed by the engaged coupling end 242 and the bore 221, and enter the space of the oil-reflux circuit inside the oil-cooling tube 20. While the heated engine oil flows slowly in the reflux space thereof, the heat sink 23 having multiple spiral heat-dissipating pores 231 arranged at the surface thereon can provide appropriate flow-disturbing effect, achieving the best cooling and heat-dissipating effect thereby. Meanwhile, the inner and outer tubes 21, 22 molded of aluminum alloy can also effectively conduct and dissipate the heat as well. Therefore, the engine oil can be gradually cooled down before flowing through the oil-outlet vent thereof to be transported outwards via the oil-outlet duct 30′ and sent backwards to the transmission thereof, ensuring the normal operating temperature of the engine oil and the cooling effect thereby. Furthermore, the oil-cooling tube 20, molded of aluminum alloy as a whole, is greatly reduced in weight, facilitating the cooling and dissipation of the oil temperature and simplifying the oil-cooling process to achieve the benefit of practicability thereby. 

1. An oil-cooling tube, comprising a set of inner and outer tubes molded of aluminum alloy, between which a heat sink having multiple heat-dissipating pores disposed thereon is laminated wherein, via tube-expanding process of the inner tube, the inner and outer tubes are integrally bonded with the heat sink together to form a lighter-weight oil cooling tube; multiple aluminum-alloy screw seats and aluminum-alloy end caps are respectively processed wherein the screw seats, each composed of a welding-joint portion disposed at the bottom and a protrusive hollow coupling end, can have the welding-joint portions respectively welded to bores drilled at the upper end sections of the outer tube to connect the hollow coupling end of the screw seats with the bores thereof, forming a set of oil-inlet and oil-outlet vents to which a set of oil-inlet and oil-outlet ducts are fluidly connected thereby; the end caps, each equipped with a ringed section to be welding-joined to the conjoining sections disposed at both outer end edges of the inner and outer tubes thereby, can seal and enclose the conjoining end edges of the inner and outer tubes to form an oil-reflux circuit therein, completing the manufacturing of the oil-cooling tube with the capability of heat dissipation wherein the oil-cooling tube is shortened in the processing steps and reduced in the cost of materials, benefiting the engine oil inside a transmission to achieve the best heat-dissipating effect thereby.
 2. The oil-cooling tube as claimed in claim 1 wherein the inner and outer tubes can be made of aluminum-alloy tubes that are respectively processed via punching and cutting operation into a hollow cylindrical configuration.
 3. The oil-cooling tube as claimed in claim 1 wherein the heat sink can be molded of aluminum-alloy roll material.
 4. The oil-cooling tube as claimed in claim 1 wherein the heat sink with the multiple heat-dissipating pores arranged thereon can have the surface molded into a spiral-type configuration.
 5. The oil-cooling tube as claimed in claim 1 wherein the screw seat can be made of an aluminum-alloy rod lathed and processed into an inverted T-shaped configuration.
 6. The oil-cooling tube as claimed in claim 1 wherein the welding-joint portion of the screw seat can be molded into a depression.
 7. The oil-cooling tube as claimed in claim 1 wherein the coupling end of the screw seat can be molded into a hollow shape with external screw threads defining thereon.
 8. The oil-cooling tube as claimed in claim 1 wherein the screw seat can have the bottom surface of the welding-joint portion coated with welding aid and, via the process of inert-gas brazing stove, brazed onto the bores disposed at the upper end sections of the outer tube thereon respectively.
 9. The oil-cooling tube as claimed in claim 1 wherein the end cap can be made of aluminum-alloy roll material punched and processed into a hollow U-shaped configuration thereby.
 10. The oil-cooling tube as claimed in claim 1 wherein the end cap can have the inner surface of the ringed section coated with welding aid and, via the process of inert-gas brazing stove, brazed onto the conjoining sections disposed at both outer end edges of the inner and outer tubes respectively. 